Category: Solomon Says

“Jesus Is Lord!” A practical suggestion for struggling with sin

I wrote this back in 2001 and had forgotten about it. Someone brought it to my attention and it seems to me that, though not about Proverbs in any way, it actually shows I was thinking in ways that would eventually help me to understand Proverbs.

All Christians struggle with sin.

Many times even relatively mature Christians commit sins they thought they had long since left behind and end up struggling anew with sinful habits in thought, word, or deed. Naturally, this means they must rouse themselves to action in putting to death the deeds of the flesh. Continue reading ““Jesus Is Lord!” A practical suggestion for struggling with sin”

What would Solomon think about social media?

Let me just say at the beginning: I don’t know what Solomon would think about social media.

I’ve occasionally had fun with the question in the title of the post…

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…but I don’t know the answer to my question and neither does anyone else. Continue reading “What would Solomon think about social media?”

Proverbs on Strength and Gender

I posted this image of the text of Proverbs 31:17 on Instagram back in February mainly because I thought female lifters, as well as male lifters, would find it cute.

Since then, I’ve begun to wonder about the significance of this verse. Why is there no passage in Proverbs commending a man who “dresses himself with strength” or “makes his arm strong”? Why is this said of the godly wife? Continue reading “Proverbs on Strength and Gender”

Getting Better Takes Time & Doing Well Requires Endurance

One of the enduring puzzles of human life is that a good start is better than a bad one… and yet a good start isn’t enough to finish well.

This is obvious in mundane circumstances. A person starts a well-planned health regimen (whether gym or diet or both) and makes great progress in a year. Yet he fails to continue and, four years later, the effects of the change have dissipated. You can’t tell that he ever made himself healthier. Someone else however, because he had many distractions or maybe some misinformation about how to proceed, showed much less progress that first year, and yet stuck with it, and is much healthier or stronger or a better runner five years later.

Every good thing has to begin but not every good beginning ends up becoming a good thing for the long term. Continue reading “Getting Better Takes Time & Doing Well Requires Endurance”

Understanding Proverbs by Thinking about Sloth

The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labor. Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad. One who is righteous is a guide to his neighbor, but the way of the wicked leads them astray. Whoever is slothful will not roast his game, but the diligent man will get precious wealth. In the path of righteousness is life, and in its pathway there is no death (Proverbs 12:24-28).

I chose this passage for one reason: it mentioned sloth twice in close proximity.

Like many other things, remarks (or riddles) about sloth are scattered throughout Proverbs in no seeming order.

Is there a method to Solomon’s apparent madness? Continue reading “Understanding Proverbs by Thinking about Sloth”

Cornelius Van Til on Self-Realization

In line with what I quoted earlier from Charles Spurgeon, consider this quotation from the Christian philosopher Cornelius Van Til:

The Kingdom of God as Man’s Summum Bonum

We need all this background in order to understand what is meant by saying that the kingdom of God is man’s summum bonum. By this term kingdom of God we mean the realized program of God for man. We would think of man as (a) adopting for himself this program of God as his own ideal and as (b) setting and keeping his powers in motion in order to reach that goal that has been set for him and that he has set for himself. We propose then briefly to look at this program which God has set for man and which man should have set for himself.

The most important aspect of this program is surely that man should realize himself as God’s vicegerent in history. Man was created God’s vicegerent and he must realize himself as God’s vicegerent. There is no contradiction between these two statements. Man was created a character and yet had to make himself ever more of a character. So we may say that man was created a king in order that he might become more of a king than he was. We may see what this means first in the individual, and secondly, for society.

Continue reading “Cornelius Van Til on Self-Realization”

Solomon on How to Be a Man: The Opportunity We Have

Proverbs was written for everyone, but it is directed towards an ideal reader. Who is the ideal reader? An older boy or a young man—someone near the threshold of adulthood.

While everyone can and should read Proverbs to learn about living in the world, the book is especially aimed at teaching boys on how to be a man.

I know it’s problematic comparing Jordan Peterson to Solomon, but it is still worth doing. “Grow up and be useful” does summarize a major thrust of Proverbs. And the popularity of Jordan Peterson’s lectures and book demonstrates why more Proverbs may be especially useful at this time in our culture.

Recently The Atlantic published a stellar article by Caitlin Flanagan, one of their contributing editors, entitled, “Why the Left Is So Afraid of Jordan Peterson.” She begins: Continue reading “Solomon on How to Be a Man: The Opportunity We Have”